The kids’ passports expire early next year, so before we left for Italy I had started getting everything ready to renew their passports. It was easier and more straightforward than I expected. We went to the website to renew passports and followed the instructions for how to renew abroad. There is a list of documents needed, such as birth certificate, passport photos, and proof of payment. They did require everything to be printed on standard American sized paper, which was impossible to find in Portugal. Kyle went to a store and had them cut the paper down to American sized. I’m not sure how picky they would have been at the Embassy if we had the wrong sized paper.

You fill out the regular form and then you have to pay online and bring proof of payment to the appointment. They make everything sound so serious on the website and like you need to have everything completely ready, but that wasn’t the case in reality. They had a photo booth at the embassy that some people were using. People were also paying at their appointment, though they had to go to the same website we went to and show proof of payment.

You have to book an appointment ahead of time. They don’t have a lot of availability, but we were able to get something booked right after we got back from Italy. When you show up at the embassy there is a booth outside. You give them your passport and wait to be called. In the first part you have to wait outside. We waited for less than 10 minutes and then you go through security. On the website it says no electronics are allowed, so we left our phones in the car. The guard told us that since we’re US Citizens we would have been allowed to bring our phones inside with us, but no tablets.

After security we went and waited in a small waiting room upstairs. We took a number and then gave all of our documentation to the person behind the counter. Then we waited. And waited some more. We waited for about 2 hours or so and then they called us up. They just wanted to see all of us and made me and Kyle swear that all of the information was correct. Then they told us that I would get an email once the passports are ready. I got the email a few days ago. It says that we can pick them up without an appointment Monday-Friday between 1:45-3:00PM. So we will be planning a trip to Lisbon soon to go pick up the passports. They’re ready way quicker than I expected. It didn’t even take 4 weeks.

To get the passport for a minor both parents need to be present along with the minor child. When we go pick the passports up only one parent has to be present. Since their current passports are still valid we will need to bring those and relinquish them once we receive the new ones. I always wondered what it would be like to renew a passport abroad and the answer is that it’s really easy. We could have had the passport mailed to us, but getting it mailed to the embassy just seemed like a better idea. Less of a chance of it being lost. Plus we’re always looking for an excuse to go to Lisbon.